What is planned as a major boost to the farming sector was launched at St Paul’s Collegiate in Hamilton last week.
Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy officially opened its Centre of Excellence for Agricultural Science and Business.
The centre is a joint venture between St Paul’s and principal agricultural industry partners DairyNZ and Beef+Lamb NZ.
It is intended to deliveragricultural business programmes to secondary schools across the country.
It is supported by 10 more business partners who will help develop the centre’s curriculum.
Guy said he was excited at the development of the new programme and the opening of the centre.
‘‘This is a hugely valuable initiative. We know as a Government the primary industries need to do a better job in promoting career opportunities in farming.
‘‘We have about 15 years to get New Zealand to the cutting edge and we need to do a far better job attracting young people into the sector,’’ he said.
Guy said by 2025 New Zealand will need an extra 50,000 people working in the primary sector if it is to reach the Government’s target of producing $38 billion — or $4 million an hour — in revenue School deputy headmaster and director of the Agribusiness School, Peter Hampton, is closely involved in curriculum development for the new centre.
‘‘Our implementation will see the centre’s programme rolled out in seven secondary schools throughout provincial New Zealand next year.
‘‘These will be set up as lead schools in their areas by 2016 and, with us, will deliver the study curriculum.’’ Hampton said the centre’s programmes had been trialled in St Paul’s this year and integrated agri-business courses with standard curriculum study areas like chemistry, biology, economics and accounting.
Field trips are supported by tertiary education institutions including Waikato, Lincoln and Massey universities.
‘‘Dairy NZ has told us they need 1000 graduates a year and at the moment they’re only getting 250,’’ Hampton said.
‘‘We want to open the eyes and ears of young people to agriculture as (a) business and a career.’’ The school piloted it’s first agri-business course this year which proved popular with a substantial increase in student numbers, many of whom should go on to agriculture-related study at tertiary level, Hampton said.
About 55 per cent of St Paul’s students come from rural or agricultural industry backgrounds.
To act as a hub for the initiative St Paul’s plans to build a centre on its Hamilton campus which will be funded jointly from donations from its old collegians network and business supporters.
The building should be completed by 2017.
